To drive safely, a driver needs to give priority attention to the driving task. Even a momentary distraction can lead to a crash. The distraction can be caused by anything that draws the driver's attention away from the road.
Most people are limited in the amount of information that they can process during any given period of time. To cope with the multiple demands that occur during driving, drivers have to shift their attention back and forth to attend to each of them. Most of the time, drivers are able to do this quite well, but, if a distraction occurs at an inappropriate time or if it is prolonged, attention to driving is reduced and safety can be jeopardized.
There have always been distractions while driving; tuning a radio, eating, or attending to a child, and most recently, and most commonly, talking on a cellular or mobile phone. Additionally, a new set of distractions are associated with the ever-growing array of new in vehicle electronic devices, sometimes referred to as infotainment systems. These types of devices are rapidly being developed by the electronics and automobile industries.
Many of these new devices provide safety benefits and, in some cases, have been attributed to saving lives. However, lawmakers have been weighing the benefits of this new technology of infotainment devices in cars against the growing evidence of their potential to increase driver distraction and the risk to driver's safety.
In light of the above circumstances, the present invention seeks to provide an apparatus that reduces the probability of vehicle crashes due to distraction caused by the driver operating infotainment devices while driving.